I saved suckers for last because it most accurately describes the "Save the brook trout" crowd.

Just think of all the fun we could have while we dried shad and smoked suckers and longed for the warm days when we could gig brook trout?

Some of y'all need to get out more and enjoy the diverse fishing opportunites that we have here in PA instead of lamenting about what once was because in reality as much as you lament you are all part of the problem you seek to rectify.

I've done my fishing for all the invasive fish, and franky don't enjoy just sitting there waiting for fish to swim by my bait. The only time I ever had fun fishing for any of them was chucking Rapala's for LMB's. But the places I used t fish for them were former trout lakes. Think about all the glacial and spring fed lakes the could have native brookies in them that no longer do. Guys would complain then about brookies being small.

I was under the impression that that colonials called the walleye "the susquehanna salmon", therefore I assumed they were native. I also thought that stripers were in the river before all the dams, but i have proven my ignorance before, and am probably currently doing so. Oh well, there are no stupid questions, only stupid people. Yeah. That's me allright.

I still wonder what the heck they were thinking when they brought over carp...Why couldn't they have brought over Atlantic salmon or something cool?

Could you imagine the PAFBC creel survey of 1743...."Our research shows that 100% of the carp that we stock stay exactly where they were placed. Furthermore they quickly multiply and drive out other non desirable fish such as brook trout. This is a resounding success for the PA fish commission. Now lets look at the 30 next graphs that mean absolutely nothing...."

Uh Tim? No to get picky, but the fish that you put under "Freshwater Bass" are actually all members of the sunfish family. I also see you included bowfin and even paddlefish, and yet you left out yellow perch, bullheads, and freshwater drum. Are you too good to fish for those native species.

FarmerDave wrote:Uh Tim? No to get picky, but the fish that you put under "Freshwater Bass" are actually all members of the sunfish family. I also see you included bowfin and even paddlefish, and yet you left out yellow perch, bullheads, and freshwater drum. Are you too good to fish for those native species.

Dear Farmer Dave,

Hey, I couldn't remember ever stinking fish in the State before the message board timed out, so how about cutting me some slack?

Most of us who fish for species other than trout frequently catch non-native fish and are quite happy to do so. I wonder if some of those people who cry for the brook trout fish for any other fish, and if so how do they justify doing so without advocating for the swift demise of all the non-native fishes?

Your forgot to mention that brookies were the top predator in over 90 5 of PA waters. I'm not sure if Susquehanna Salmon were Walleyes, since they aren't native to the drainage, it may have been shad that were called Sus. Salmon or it could have been brookies, in season, many locales call trout salmon if they were known to migrate.

Posted on: 2007/3/22 16:23

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The object of a resource is to use and reuse a resource, not to use it up, have we learned nothing in over 125 years of stocking?

I'm not a brookie nut. I'll fish for just about anything I can catch. Heck, I'll target chubbs in a pinch if I'm having a bad day. (Are they native?) But I think brookies are really cool fish and I would love to see them in better shape as far as populations, ranges, and size. If Big Spring would have been made into an exclusively (big) brookie stream that would have been a great novelty and a big draw. Brookie fishing is just another variety of great trout possibilities in the great state of PA. Tim, I'm not sure why the "brookie-hugger" bashing. I don't believe anyone here has been saying we want brookies above all else, except maybe Chaz from time to time.